Last semester, Andrew Loewenstein, an international litigator and US government advisor, presented a stunning lecture on the ongoing tragedy in Darfur, Sudan. Where else does one have a 61 percent chance of witnessing a family member's murder, an 80 percent chance of having one's village destroyed and a 16 percent chance or greater that, if you are a woman, you or someone you know will be raped? Loewenstein's statistics, gathered by a task force sent to assess the genocide in Darfur, make it all too clear that we cannot sit idly by in the face of such inhumanity.
Atrocities in the Western Darfur region began in 2003. Janjaweed militia and government forces forged an alliance aimed at eliminating the non-Arab inhabitants of Darfur. Further complicating matters, a 21-year-old civil war has torn the country in two. The black African majority, concentrated in the south, has been at odds with the northern Arab-dominated government over a lack of representation. Uneven distribution of significant oil revenues has only further fueled these regional hatreds.
With preexisting religious and racial animosities already aggravated, a flimsy cease fire was breached in 2003 by two anti-government militias, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLA), and the foundation for genocide was laid. The government struck back with a vengeance, enlisting a militia known as the Janjaweed, composed of local Arab recruits who brought historic prejudices and economic envy into the conflict. This retaliation became the pretext for the persecution of an entire people, culture and way of life.
The humanitarian crisis in Darfur is a blight on the modern conscience, exposing the gross hypocrisy of the cry "never again," first sounded after the Holocaust and subsequently echoed after each serial genocide of the 20th century. A systematic attempt to annihilate Darfur's non-Arab, black Africans is now underway. Their villages are razed, their farms and livestock are decimated and they themselves are mutilated, raped and killed. Males of all ages have been selected for extermination in an effort to wipe out the seed and strength of Darfur's targeted populations. Some authorities place the death toll at upwards of 300,000 and the number of displaced at 2.4 million.
The sheer magnitude of these atrocities forces us to act against the suffering of Darfur's people. Too many remain unaware of these terrible crimes. We need to convince our politicians and leaders to take the action that is long since overdue. We have in the past proven ourselves capable of administering in the aftermath of genocide, through shipments of aid and personnel to refugee and internal displacement camps. This time, we cannot limit ourselves merely to alleviating the effects after the fact. We must strike directly at this genocide and its perpetrators.
In our attempts to stem the violence we must be careful not to undermine the measures already being taken. U.S. government actions and U.N. troop commitments (presently 10,000) thus far must be supported at the same time as we push for further measures of intervention. It is important to criticize the insufficiency of what is being done, but not at the expense of crippling current efforts. Our criticism must be constructive in its approach: Rather than saying "sending troops without a mandate to engage the enemy is useless," let us say "send more," until the troop level is sufficient to discourage violence.
It is frustrating for students to be chastised for not caring enough. Those who chastise rarely provide outlets for effective action, expecting their audience to take their own initiative. However, the sheer magnitude of such problems often leaves us feeling overwhelmed, resulting in unintentional idleness. This lack of action allows crimes of all magnitudes, including genocide, to persist. Here, I believe, we have the opportunity to impact change. To ,this end the Darfur Action Coalition at Brown has initiated a letter writing and phone calling campaign to alert senators to our concern. Furthermore, we are organizing a week of awareness and support for ending the genocide in Darfur ending on April 30. Highlights will include two lecture panels comprised of such experts as Richard and Carolyn Fluehr Lobban, Andrew Loewenstein, Ali Dinar, Ruth Messenger and our keynote, John Prendergast; showings of various documentaries; and t-shirt sales whose proceeds will go to charities and lecture costs. The Darfur Action Coalition will provide the direction and structure for action. All you need to do is add your voice to ours and help us all to make a difference.
This is not an event uniquely cooked up by Brown liberalism - it is a nationwide exercise of popular power and opinion. Student's on campuses across the country are raising a collective call of awareness and support for Darfur's plight. Here is an opportunity to overcome your sense of powerlessness and speak out in praise of life over death!
Allison Fajans-Turner '07 is a member of the Brown Darfur Coalition, which meets on Sunday 7:30 p.m. in West House.
